The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1887-10-11

may glorify God our heavenly Father
/ We have received the gospel OF jesus
Christ, and if we do not so live an
order our lives that all men will rejoice
| and see that we are honest, See that wt
are sincere, see that we are pure, we are
not doing our duty as Latter day
Saints. The gospel of Chris
teaches every man and woman
and child to be virtuous, to be upright
to be honest; and if we are not vlrtu-
GUS, if we are not upright, If we do not
| live so as to bring credit unto the work
OF God, then are we not living as we
should live, then we are not living up 10
the testimony we have received. This Is
an individual work in which we are en-
gagged. Yon cancot rob me of my sal
vation; L cannot rob you of yours. 1t
is an individual labor, and | thank God
that all the Saints are entitled to the
whisperings of His holy spirit. l thank
God that none OF US are dependent upon
others for the testimony of the
the gospel. thank Him that each and
all can obtain testimony for them
selves. l beseech you my friends, be-
seech you, my brethren and sisters, one
and all, to so live that the light OF the
holy spirit of God may be your constant
companion, enlightening your mind,
quickening your understanding, in
spring within you desire to labor
with all the power, with all the ability
thatNGod has given you for the accom-
plishment of His purposes.
I testify to you that there is no labor
on this earth that can be engaged In
that will bring the same Joy, the same
happiness, the same peace, as keeping
the commandments of God and exhort-
ing others to do the same.
May God bless you all. is my prayer
in the name of Jesus. Amen.
ELDER JOHN NICHOLSON
followed and spoke thus:
Ay brethren and sisters The request
to occupy this position before this vast
assembly of people, was. totally unex-
pected to your humble servant; and 1
take this occasion to unite with the SEN
timents that have been expressed by the
speaker who preceded me, in relation to
the qualification that is afforded us this
afternoon, in beholding the face and
listening to the voice of our venerable
president. 1t is not for me, my breth-
rem and sisters, for any length of time,
under the circumstances by which we
are now surrounded, to occupy your at
.tention. 1t appears to be the desire
that testimonies, in relation to the
divinity of this work, should be spoken
on. say in the ears of this congrega-
ton, that [ have received an individual
testimony concerning the divine char
acter of this church that we have the
honor of being identified with. And
humble though [ be, have at various
times received and enjoyed a portion of
that power which belongs to the gospel
of Jesus Christ, which is the power of
His spirit l have listened with atten-
ton to all the speakers who have oc-
cupied the stand during this Confer
snce, and have rejOiced in the spirit
that has pervaded this gathering; and
l feel that when we depart hence, that
we go with fuller determination to act
in accordance with the mind and will of
God, in reference thereto, than we had
previous to coming together.
The principle of unity has been
touched upon by nearly all the speak
ers. AS l understand it, my brethren
and sisters, there are three fundamental
conditions which produce this result.
The first of these is that we compre-
bend within our own mifids and spirit
the truth as it is in Christ; and that our
moral natures are possessed of an un-
faitering desire to conform to it in our
lives and conduct. And that we are
possessed in our souls with the love OF
God, which is also expressed ia that love
that we exhibit to our fellow-creatures.
These form the basis of union, and
when there is any absence of these de-
| =, Ico %,
ance. or it is effected, or likely to moral
reciitude, or the absence in US of the
! love of God that should permeate our
beings. Therefore. our pursuit in con
nection with this work, and the whole
devotion of our lives, should be to cul-
tiva;e these principles within ourselves,
in reference to temporal things that
have been spoken about so much. |
understand it 10 be necessary that they
should be handled with due regard to
the principles that obtain in the
heavens, in order to be acceptable to
our Heavenly Father; and the perfect
system of temporal philosophy was, in
the early rise of the church, revealed to
this people; but it was a perfect law,
revealed to an imperfect people, and it
is for US, my brethren and sisters, to be
careful not to travel too far away from
the ideal of the condition that should
exist among US in that regard as peo-
pie. For the further we travel from it,
it will be the longer and more tedious
journey to get back to the conditions
and desires that we should attain to.
MY brethren and sisters, with these
few, feeble remarks, leave my testi-
mony with this congregation, with the
exhortation to you and to myself that
we stand by the truth and follow in the
nature and character of GOD. Remem-
Der that He has said, that behold it is
not the work of God that fails, but the
work of man. For the Lord never de
parted from that which he sayeth, and
His course is one eternal round forever
May God help us to initiate that course,
is my prayer, in the name of His son,
Jesus Christ, amen.
BISHOP o. T. WHITNEY
next spoke, as follows;
Ny Brethren and Sisters-While feel
ing sensible of the honor conferred upon
me, i being permitted to stand here
for a few minutes, to testify of the
3-1kh no - &c -o-;r,o-, mn NJ tho uOlu